Little Mix have hit the big time in US

Cracking the American market has got to be one of the hardest things for any pop act to do.

But I had a great time this week meeting up with the girls who now have the States at their feet Little Mix.

It was the first time I’d met Jade, Perrie, Leigh-Ann and Jesy, and they were absolutely lovely.

Funnily enough, they were quite excited to see me as I was a reminder of home, that friendly wee face they see on the telly underneath the Hollywood sign.

And keeping a real flavour of home was important, hence their revelation that they made sure they had brought tea bags with them!

The nice thing is that they’re at that early stage of their career where they just want to have a laugh.

I actually told them to interview each other and ask the questions they’d always wanted answered.

They were a bit concerned at first because they reckoned they knew so much about each other, but we had a bit of fun over Leigh-Ann. Turned out they didn’t know everything.

Leigh-Ann’s the clumsy one who keeps bumping into things. They were on stage the other night and she walked into something and almost knocked herself out.

The other girls thought it was just her normal self and she got no sympathy until they realised the poor wee thing really had battered her head!

I asked when they first realised their lives weren’t going to be the same and they said it was when they got into the car straight after they won X Factor back in 2011.

They said goodbye to their families, looked at each other, and just knew things were going to be very different.

It’s been the craziest couple of years for them and this visit to LA is the first time they’ve slowed down even a little bit.

They’ve appreciated how lucky they are and how amazing their whole trip has been.

I always fear for young bands. You never know how long your career is going to last and there’s a danger it all passes you by so quickly and you never get a chance to enjoy it.

But Little Mix are enjoying it. They’ve topped the iTunes album chart and they broke the Spice Girls’ record for the highest new chart entry.

They’re definitely the biggest since Posh, Sporty and the rest. In fact, they were on the top breakfast show, Good Morning America, where they were introduced as the biggest girl band in the world, and they’re all very happy with their love lives, too.

Perrie’s engaged to One Direction’s Zayn of course now there’s a couple riding the crest of a wave! She says they haven’t made any wedding plans yet because it’s been such a crazy time for them.

1D are still the biggest boy band by far and right at the forefront of this great British invasion. Ed Sheeran and Adele are the others really leading the charge.

It’s all about timing in the music biz. And 1D are the classic example of being right there at the perfect time, just as the Jonas Brothers had stopped recording. That’s where Simon Cowell saw there was a gap in the market.

Speaking of Simon, I’m absolutely delighted that he’s a dad now. In all the years I’ve known him there was no one further from wanting to be a dad. But listening to what he’s saying, he’s certainly changed.

Never having been a father, I can only go on what people say about it totally changing your life. If that’s the case I’m really pleased for Simon. He has always been the most work-orientated guy you can imagine. Honestly, he does work constantly, so if there is something to take his mind off that, I think it will be great.

It’ll be fantastic for his life and I really hope that’s what little Eric will do for him.

And as far as Little Mix are concerned, I just hope their success continues because they really are such nice girls.